


Everybody Loves Big Jim

by NickelModelTales



Category: Original Work
Genre: 1980s, Corruption, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Goths, Hypnotism, Shameless Smut, Small Towns, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 12:04:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21179117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickelModelTales/pseuds/NickelModelTales
Summary: A conniving, domineering small-town mayor is thrown for a loop when his teenage daughter is caught kissing another girl.  Perhaps a crooked hypnotist can straighten her out?





	1. Mayor James Stamper

**Author's Note:**

> A reader challenged me with a specific plot where a conservative, Midwestern father discovers his prized daughter in a gay relationship. He flips out and conspires to have the girl and her lover hypnotized in order to "straighten them out." And then things go south when the hypnotist decides to take matters into his own hands.
> 
> I set out to write that story, but the characters rebelled against me and crafted a very different story than what was in the original request. Sometimes, that's the best writing experience.

** _Hickory Valley, Missouri_ **

** _May, 1982_ **

The Acorn Buttermill Restaurant was a fixture of Hickory Valley, as vital a part of the community as the Presbyterian Church on Honeydew Lane, or Picket’s General Store, or even the Shriners Club Rotary Hall. The Buttermill had opened its doors in 1928, and one could still see black-and-white photographs of the original staff in the waiting area.

Back then, it was still Prohibition, and the Buttermill had a sorted history of participating in illegal boozerunning. This shady history was unrecorded in those cheerful photos, yet was undeniably a part of the old restaurant’s bones. Some thought the old ghosts of mischief still wafted through the creaky air.

The modern-day Buttermill reflected none of its exciting past, however. Presently, the most dedicated patrons were the senior citizens who lined up for the 11 AM and 4 PM Early Bird specials. Quite dedicated, this crowd shuffled in promptly every day, ate like birds, and departed before the noisy family crowds could disrupt the tranquil atmosphere.

One crisp Tuesday afternoon, the white-haired crowd was in attendance, as usual. All conversation trailed off when Hickory Valley’s bear-like mayor, James “Big Jim” Stamper, lurched into the main dining room, a shining grin across his broad face. Big Jim was tall, barrel-chested, with thick, muscled arms and legs. In his youth, he had served in Vietnam as an artillery gunner, which had given him worn, leather-like skin, hardened fingers, and a course outlook on life. He was fifty years old now, and becoming more heavy-set every year. He wore his casual business suit like a second skin.

Big Jim’s every moment and glance telegraphed confidence and power. His head was completely bald, his nose hawk-like, and his gaze penetrating. His square jaw and heavy brow made his face even more impressive, or intimidating, depending on whether he liked you. The man radiated charisma. To his constituents, he was the all-American older cousin or uncle you wish you always had.

To those who worked for him, Big Jim was feared, and then liked. In that order.

The Buttermill patrons looked up from their plates, and smiled. “Hey there, Jim!” more than a few called out. Many wizened hands waved. Eyes twinkled.

The mayor grinned again. “I do declare!” he exclaimed, sauntering up to the nearest table. “Elmer and Betty Wilson! How you folks doin’?”

The Wilsons, a sweet pair of retired farmers, peered up at Jim, flattered that he would pick them. “Oh, mercy me, Big Jim,” Elmer stammered, hurriedly setting down his knife and fork. He struggled to rise.

“Whoa, there, Old Timer!” Big Jim said grandly, his rich baritone filling the dining room. The mayor put a massive paw on Elmer’s shoulder. “Naw, don’t get up on my account. I was just thrilled to see you two. Wanted to pay my respects, is all.”

“Oh, thank you, Big Jim,” beamed Betty, quickly adjusting her hair and pearl necklace.

“Say, how’s your Chester?” the big man asked, bending forward to shake Elmer’s trembling hand. Chester was the Wilsons’ son, long since grown and moved away from Hickory Valley.

Elmer and Betty regaled Big Jim with glowing anecdotes of Chester’s life, now somewhere out in Colorado.

“Well, you tell Chester to bring those gorgeous children of his and come back to Hickory Valley,” Big Jim said kindly. “Of course, they might not recognize their grandma, what with how she keeps getting younger and more beautiful every day.” With fake seriousness, he pointed to Betty’s white wine. “The servers here did have to check your ID before you ordered that… right, miss?”

“Oh… **_Jim!_**” Betty blushed, embarrassed but delighted. Elmer beamed with pride.

“You two have yourself a nice meal, now,” the Mayor smiled, clapping Elmer on the shoulder once again. “Be sure to stop by City Hall and pay me a visit, you hear?” And then the big man moved across the dining hall, greeting other residents as he went.

“God Bless that man,” Elmer marveled, before tucking back into his slice of meatloaf.

*********

The Buttermill had a private dining room in the back. This was ideal for Big Jim. He owned a part-share in the restaurant, and thus felt free to use the room for any city business that he wanted to keep off the books. As the Buttermill was right off Interstate 70, out-of-towners could slip in the back way, meet with the mayor, then sneak away, and there would be no chance any of this would be detected. Not that Jim had to worry about political rivals… but it paid to be cautious nonetheless.

The dining room had been rearranged by Jim’s guests, the good people from the New Enterprises Realty Corporation. Most of the tables had been used to host the meal; Big Jim had boldly ordered the T-Bone steak. The remains of that feast were now being cleared away. New Enterprises was presented with the bill.

But on the far side of the room, one table had been set aside. The chairs had been removed, and now a scale model of the proposed Missouri Star Shopping Mall was resting on the table’s surface. To the north side, New Enterprises’ accountants and money people stood, silent and nervous. Their team leader, Bethany Bikulla, stood before them, highlighting different points of the model.

Bethany was on the Missouri Star account because she knew how to close deals. Today, she faced a tough audience.

Because opposite her was Big Jim’s stone-faced staff, and before them, the big man himself. Big Jim gazed down at the model, his earlier cheerfulness completely washed from his face.

“And… here… will be the food court entrance,” Ms. Bikulla pronounced, pointing to the southern end of the model. “There will be a common drive-through here, and-“

“Whoa,” Big Jim rumbled, raising one meaty hand. “What’s a ‘_common drive-through_’?”

“A new concept,” replied Ms. Bikulla, smoothing a rebel strand of hair. The executive was in her late forties, dressed up in business formal, but sporting an informal haircut. Forbes magazine had recommended this look for professional women looking to impress business partners.

She continued: “The Food Court will have twenty-seven restaurants, sixteen of them considered fast food. The common drive-through window is shared by all the fast foodies. Customers can place food orders to any restaurant, right from their car. The beauty is, its so logistically simple, a teenager could manage it.”

“I’ll be…” murmured Jim, his eyebrows raising. “**_Any_** restaurant, huh?” He rubbed his chin. “So I could order a cheeseburger from Wendy’s, but fries from Burger King and my favorite milkshake from Denny’s?”

“Well, er…” Ms. Bikulla said thinking fast. She glanced back at her team of assistants. One of them shrugged helplessly at her. “Of course,” she ventured.

“You should call it an _Everything Drive-Through_, then,” Big Jim declared, absently strumming his fingers on the table.

The mayor pursed his lips together, slowly walking around the conference room table, scrutinizing the model. No-one spoke. No-one moved. No-one so much as sighed, as to let Big Jim have all the time he needed to think.

“I like it,” Big Jim finally admitted. His rich baritone was low, yet carried great power. “Yeah. I like it.”

“A few things, though,” he added, before Ms. Bikulla and her people could relax. “First, ah, I think the name should be changed.”

The ends of Ms. Bikulla’s mouth tightened. “Well, Mr. Mayor, the name was voted upon by the finance committee. I don’t know that-“

“The ‘_Missouri Star Shopping Mall?_’” Big Jim interrupted, plucking the name card off the model. “Yeah, that’ll never do. The initials would be MSSM; what good is that?”

Tossing the card to the floor, the mayor said, “You should call this the Benjamin McCulloch Mall. That has a much nicer ring, don’cha think?” He nodded once. “We don’t honor our Missouri history enough; that needs to change. McCulloch was a genuine Missouri war hero, you know. Died fighting for this state. Kids should look up to him.” The mayor nodded, once. “Yep.”

“Also,” he added, pointing a thick finger, “you expect this attraction will syphon traffic off Route 70? We’ll need to get some zoning permits before you direct traffic through that section of town. And I want you to hire Terry’s Paving for the roadwork, you hear me? They’re square, they’ll give you a good price.”

“Mr. Mayor,” Ms. Bikulla said delicately, “your office didn’t mention any of these extra expenses in our initial discussions. Our construction budget is tight enough as it is. What’s more-“

“Oh, come off it,” huffed Big Jim, waving a dismissive hand. “Firms like yours, you ol’ boys know how to move numbers around. You got **_millions_** for this, right? So look at the books, move a few decimals, find a coupla spare hundred thou. You’ll do it.”

Ms. Bikulla glanced at the mayor’s staff, weighing her next words very carefully. “_Zoning regulations_” and “_hire this paving company_” were old tricks to grift big businesses. The experienced real estate manager knew all too well that these extra monies would have to be paid discreetly, in cash. And they would find a way to eventually swim into Big Jim’s pocket.

On the other hand… This mall represented an investment projected to make nearly **_three hundred million dollars_** before 1990. Years had been spent studying the locals’ shopping habits, scouting locations, auditioning architects, shopping for franchises, lining up construction services, and much more. The investors were expecting a return on their money within six months. The train had left the station. To upend things now would be career suicide.

Ms. Bikulla sighed inwardly. Big Jim knew all of this, of course. Even now, as the huge man studied her, she realized that he read her like a book. The man must have been an expert poker player.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she demurred, signaling acceptance.

“Hah!” Big Jim grunted, slapping the table once. “Very wise, very wise.” Now that he’d gotten his way, the mayor dropped his serious demeanor. He hooked his thumbs into his belt loops.

“New Enterprises is gonna make a lotta money,” he promised Ms. Bikulla. “A **_lotta_** money. That was a good idea of mine, wasn’t it? The Everything Drive-Through? That’ll make you a small mint, right there.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” Ms. Bikulla said graciously.

*********

New Hickory City Hall was a small, three-story building, with a general reception area, municipal court, some offices, and the police station squeezed onto the ground floor. City Records and the jail were in the basement. The upstairs held the Mayor’s Office, a small suite of administrative rooms.

The Mayor’s actual office was a sprawling room. A presidential-sized desk, complete with a throne-like chair, dominated the center of the space. There was a row of locked filing cabinets, a full gun display case, and a small seating area with couches. The walls were covered with framed photos and the stuffed heads of deer and boar that Big Jim had shot, once upon a time. The ceiling was low, and there seemed to be a permanent haze of cigar smoke that clung to the air, no matter how many times the staff opened the windows.

It was slightly after four PM. Scowling, Big Jim moved to his desk, his thick fingers twitching slightly. His afternoon schedule had run over, and now he had only a few minutes for work at the office. His mood was dark.

In the doorframe was Mabel, Jim’s ever-harassed secretary.

The mayor groaned, lowering himself into his chair. “Aw, what?” he snapped.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Mabel said. She flashed a nervous smile. “How’d, uh, the meeting with the mall people go?”

“Fine, fine,” grunted Jim, picking up his mail. Big Jim was notorious for ignoring his mail until the last minute; under Missouri state law, you could dodge a subpoena that way. He flipped through the envelopes. “The New Enterprises Realty people sent that **_Bethany Bikulla_** again.” He pronounced the name with contempt. “Lordy, I ask you: are they trying to insult me? She’s just not cut out for real business. Like most broads.”

“I see,” Mabel allowed.

Big Jim scanned his mail, flicking the odd envelope into the wastepaper basket.

Mabel wasn’t budging.

The Mayor’s fierce glare fell upon her again. “Was there something else, Mabel?”

“One last thing, yes. Stanley Thomas is here.”

Big Jim’s expression darkened. “Thomas? Aw, shit. Send him in. No calls.”

Relieved, Mabel scurried away. Seconds later, a thin man carrying a briefcase and smoking a limp cigarette entered the room.

“Hey,” Big Jim said. “Shut the door. Then lock it.”

“Sure thing, sure thing,” the man said. He obeyed, then moved to stand before the great desk.

Jim pretended he was absorbed in an important-looking paper. After perhaps sixty seconds of quiet, he looked up.

“Okay, Thomas,” he grumbled. “Whaddya got?”

Stanley Thomas hesitated, then set his briefcase on the desk. He opened it with a soft _clack!_

“Your wife, she’s one bored lady,” Thomas reported. “Near as I can figure, she sleeps until eleven. Has breakfast with a cocktail out on the terrace. Likes to time it so she can watch the gardeners.”

“Do tell,” growled Jim.

“After breakfast, she goes to the gym,” continued Thomas, now handing over 12 X 8 photographs. “See? She’s got a thing for those… whatdda they called… spandex outfits. She does Aerobics at noon. Then shopping. Lots of shopping. Usually with girlfriends.”

Big Jim reclined in his seat, inspecting each photo with quiet distain.

“After she gets bored, sometimes she goes to the movies. Or sometimes to one of those upscale bars they have at Honeyduke Plaza. You ever been there? Its nice. She has at most two martinis. Then she’s off home.”

“She does this every day?” Big Jim exclaimed, disgusted.

“Pretty much,” Thomas said.

The mayor vented an angry exhale. “I thought you ‘n me had an understanding,” he growled, his deep voice bristling with anger. “You were to shadow the bitch and catch her with her boyfriend. Right?”

“Mr. Stamper,” Thomas said quickly, his smile fading, “I can’t control what your wife does. Only follow her where she goes.”

“She’s screwing somebody,” snarled Big Jim, still flipping through the photographs. “I know it. I just don’t know who. You **_promised_** me you’d find out.”

“I…” the investigator said, the color draining from his face.

But Big Jim waved a hand. He scowled, then crumpled the photos in his great hands. “Just keep shadowing her,” he ordered. “Make sure you don’t lose sight of her, **_ever_**. Get me?”

“Yessir,” Thomas agreed.

“Alright, get out of here,” said the mayor, disgusted. He chucked the pictures into his wastebasket.

But Thomas didn’t budge.

Big Jim, unaccustomed to being ignored, glared up at the man.

“Sir,” Thomas ventured, “there’s something else.”

The silence in the room was stifling now. “Oh?” was all Big Jim said. Yet that one quiet word contained a universe of menace. Big Jim could speak like that.

Thomas’ tongue failed him. He simply dipped back into his briefcase, then handed over another stack of photos. A small stack.

Big Jim’s face went slack the instant he looked at the first picture. His great jaw became unhinged.

Watching him carefully, Thomas braced himself for the coming eruption.

“The fuck…?” Jim said in alarm and dismay. “The **_fuck…?_**”

The big man suddenly leapt to his feet, causing Thomas to jump too. “**_When the fuck did you get these?!?_**”

“It just happened!” wailed the miserable PI. “I was waiting for your wife to get her car! Then, I saw that chick“ – he pointed to the photos – “appear. And sneak around to the backyard.”

“At my house?” Big Jim thundered.

“Yeah, yeah,” nodded Thomas. “I thought, ‘_this looks suspicious._’ So I snuck after her. Stayed behind the bushes, like you would have wanted. And then I snapped those.” He indicated the pictures again with a limp gesture.

Big Jim stared at the photos again, his thoughts reeling. With an angry grunt, he flopped back down into his chair. And then he inspected the photos yet again.

“This is all that happened?” he demanded. “I mean, **_just_** this? No other…”

“Nothing else,” Thomas promised him. But then he quickly added, “Of course, if they’d gone any farther, I woulda-“

“I **_strongly_** suggest,” growled Big Jim, “that you **_never fucking ever_** finish that sentence.”

So Thomas merely swallowed and nodded his head.

“Jesus Motherfucking Christ,” the mayor rumbled. Fixing the private investigator with his most bloodcurdling glare, he asked, “No-one else knows about this. **_Right?_**”

“No-one else,” Thomas promised.

“Good, good,” muttered Jim. “Because, I swear to fucking Christ, Stan, if word of this gets out **_in any way_**, I will call up some friends of mine and they will fucking smash your kneecaps.”

That was an idle bluff. But poor Stan Thomas didn’t know that.

The heavy silence grew even heavier. The grandfather clock ticked, each click sounding oddly violent. Big Jim’s angry brow was furrowed. He was thinking carefully.

“Alright, alright,” he finally said. “Here’s what’s gonna happen.”

The mayor held up the last photo, pointing to one of the two young ladies depicted within. She was very young, perhaps twenty years old, dressed head-to-toe in black. Her long, straight hair was black, which matched the paint on her fingernails and her lipstick.

“You’re gonna find this young woman,” Big Jim ordered. “I want to know everything. Her name. Her parents. Where she lives. Where she works. Where she eats. Where she shits. Wherever else the fuck she’s been. I want it all.” He growled, “You **_get_** me?”

“You got it, Mr. Stamper,” agreed Thomas.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Big Jim said quietly.

With impressive speed, Thomas snapped shut his briefcase and bolted for the door. Jim could hear Mabel’s surprised cry as he nearly flattened the secretary out in the hallway.

But the mayor’s dark thoughts were riveted on the photograph in his hands. Within the grainy color print, the black-clad woman was embracing a second young lady. The two females were clutching each other, locked in a passionate, full-mouthed kiss.

The other young woman was Kimberly Stamper, Big Jim’s only daughter.

*********


	2. The Deal with Mad Dog

Big Jim glowered over his plate. Kimberly was especially sour that evening. The teenager slouched in her chair, dejectedly poking at her string beans with a fork.

Dinnertime at the Stampers’ had always been frosty, but tonight the mood was especially frigid. The family – Big Jim, his wife Cynthia, and Kimberly – sat in the dining room, each occupying their own side of the table. Althea, their maid, occasionally floated in and out with dishes. Jim’s three Great Danes, Baxter, Drake, and Duke, sat obediently in the corner.

No-one attempted any conversation.

Big Jim sawed into his ham steak, brooding. He eyed his daughter. Perhaps she sensed his antagonism, for she refused to return his gaze. She refused to look in his direction at all.

Kimberly was eighteen now, just graduated from Hickory High. She was thin and willowy, like her mother had been at this age. Once, Big Jim had hoped his little Kimmy might become a ballerina, as she had the graceful figure for it. Kimberly’s face was plain but beautiful, although her father rarely saw her smile. The girl had brown, cropped hair (slightly spiked), brown eyes, and an almost deer-like loveliness to her face.

Big Jim was wrestling with furious emotions. Father and daughter had never been close, and the distance between them widened when Kimberly’s mother had died of cancer. The distance had widened again when Big Jim married the vapid Cynthia, a woman twenty years his junior. In fact, Jim couldn’t remember the last time when he’d had a heart-to-heart with his little girl.

The image of gorgeous Kimberly, passionately kissing that black-clad woman, kept bobbing up in the mayor’s mind. How long had those two girls been doing this? Where did they meet? **_And where was that woman now?_**

Cynthia, absently staring out a window, finished her second white wine. Althea refilled her glass without needing to be prompted.

The silence was unbearable. Big Jim cleared his throat and turned to Kimberly. “So, honey,” he said, faking cheer, “what did you do today?”

His daughter ignored him.

“Kimberly Rose Stamper,” said Big Jim, his voice a little less cuddly now, “I asked you a question.”

The girl made a show of rolling her eyes. “Nothing…” she grunted.

“Uh-huh,” said Big Jim, wondering if he could get the information he wanted without threats. He rubbed his chin, then reached for a dinner roll. “Tell me something,” he prodded. “Were you thinking of trying out for gymnastics this year? All your friends made the team, right?”

Kimberly was appalled. “**_Gymnastics?_** God, Dad, you’re, like, sooo lame. I haven’t done gymnastics since ninth grade. Thanks for noticing.” Her voice dripped with resentment.

Forcing himself to swallow his outrage, Big Jim tried one more time. “Well, so who do you hang out with these days? You’re still friends with… what’s her name… that Tiffany girl from down the street. Right? Didn’t she die her hair black, or something?”

Kimberly glared at her father. “**_May I be excused?_**” she said, her words acidic.

*********

Gently talking with Kimberly was no use. Big Jim tried a more direct approach, seeking to learn what he could about his daughter’s social life these days, but she simply clammed up and refused to acknowledge him, even when he threatened to take her car keys.

By evening, the mayor of Hickory Valley was more convinced than ever; his daughter wanted to keep him out of her life. And why? Because she was having a secret lesbian affair, that’s why! The fury and shame that gnawed at Big Jim was more than he could bear.

“You noticed anything unusual about Kimberly lately?” he demanded of Cynthia, as they climbed into bed that night.

“Uh?” Cynthia said. “Um… well, no. I mean, nothing unusual.”

Big Jim didn’t believe her for a second. But before he confronted anyone in his family, he needed more proof of deception.

He did not sleep well that night.

*********

The next morning, Big Jim stopped by the Silver Diner for coffee and to talk with his constituents, as was his daily custom. As usual, he was warmly received. And he loved the adoration.

But Jim’s mood had turned when he finally reached City Hall. He marched into his office and immediately called Stanley Thomas, private investigator. “Thomas?” he growled into the phone. “Forget following my wife. You gotta find that skank woman who’s seducing my daughter. Top priority. Start now. Kimberly’s recently finished school, so she’s got nothing but time on her hands.”

“Uh… right…” the PI replied, sounding perplexed. “But our contract was to tail your wife, I’ve-“

“You call me the moment you have anything – **_anything!_**” the mayor ordered. Then he slammed down the phone.

*********

It didn’t take long for the PI to call back. Big Jim was in a meeting with city lawyers, discussing ordinances, when Mabel poked her head into the conference room. “Line One, boss,” she said timidly. “A Mr. Thomas?”

“Everyone get the fuck out,” Big Jim said immediately. His underlings snatched their documents and briefcases, and there was a mad scramble for the door.

Jim waited until the door clicked shut, then he picked up the phone, stabbing a button. “Yeah?” he said.

“_Hey, Mr. Stamper,_” Thomas’ nervous voice said. The investigator was on a payphone; Jim could hear light traffic on the line. “_Hey, I’ve been tailing your daughter. And she just met up with her special friend._”

Big Jim jumped to his feet. “Where are you?” he demanded.

*********

Normally, Big Jim wheeled about town in his cherry red Bronco, a formidable beast of a car. But the engine of that monster could be heard two blocks away. So, swallowing his pride, the mayor commandeered Deputy Kilgore and his patrol car, forcing the rookie officer to shuttle him across town.

The two men drove down Main Street, making a left onto West Chestnut. The Dairy Queen was a block away, and Big Jim could see the little store was getting ready for the hot summer.

“Pull in there,” he ordered Deputy Kilgore. “Wait for me here.”

The mayor hopped out of the patrol car, then hurried across the nearly vacant parking lot. He spotted Stan Thomas almost immediately.

“Follow me,” the PI said with a jerk of his head.

The two men cut through the next lot, and around to the back of the Piggly-Wiggly, which had just closed last winter.

“Quick, hide behind these shrubs,” Thomas whispered. He crouched down, then pointed.

Big Jim squinted. Behind the abandoned supermarket, there was a small loading dock. And on the dock, he could see perhaps five teenagers. Three boys… Kimberly… and the black-clad girl! The youths were lounging about, smoking cigarettes, and laughing. From that distance, they couldn’t see the two spying adults.

The mayor hissed in fury. Kimberly, **_smoking?_** Oh, she was gonna get it. She’d be lucky to ever drive again, that was certain.

But it was the other woman who drew Big Jim’s attention. She was also thin, like Kimberly, but muscular and spry in her movements. As in that photograph, the girl wore nothing but black from head-to-toe, and her long, black hair flowed over her shoulders like a miniature cape. Big Jim thought he could see a black tattoo on the back of her hand. She was like the grim reaper’s little sister, he thought sourly.

“They’ve been here for about an hour,” Thomas reported, keeping his voice low. “Just smoking cigarettes and throwing discarded bottles at the trees.”

Big Jim felt his blood pressure rising. He clenched his hands into fists. Jesus, how could Kimberly be so **_stupid?_**

But as the mayor stared, he grew confused. The black-clad girl was doing something. What…?

She hurried up to one of the boys, who had been jumping around, like an idiot. Then, her thin hand flashed out, and she spoke a quick word. Instantly, the boy was motionless. Big Jim thought the kid’s eyes closed, but it was hard to be sure from this distance.

“What the fuck…?” the mayor grumbled. “They playing some game or…?”

Black-clad Woman spoke to the frozen boy, resting one hand on his shoulder. The two grown men couldn’t hear a word of what she said, but they could tell that she spoke with confidence and authority. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers.

The boy came to life. Blinking once, he began jumping around the concrete lot as if he were frog. The other teens exploded in laughter.

“Oh,” Thomas exclaimed. “I get it. He’s hypnotized.”

“Eh?” Big Jim said.

“That kid,” explained Thomas, indicated the madly bouncing lad. “He’s hypnotized. The Goth chick must have put him under hypnosis. You never seen a hypnosis show?”

Big Jim hadn’t. All he knew about hypnotism was that it was something Dracula did to his victims.

“Jesus,” Hickory Valley’s mayor said, fear gnawing at his insides, “that girl knows **_hypnotism?_** You think… she’s done hypnotism on my Kimberly?”

“I don’t think so,” the PI said thoughtfully. “These kids have been here for an hour. I didn’t see anything like that-“

“I mean before, you idiot,” snapped Big Jim. “What if Kimberly’s kissing this girl **_because she’s been hypnotized?_**”

It was a mortifying thought.

*********

The hypnotism changed everything. Normally, Big Jim would have charged across that loading dock, seized his daughter by the arm, and then propelled her back into Deputy Kilgore’s patrol car. Appearances be damned.

But the thought that Kimberly, his sweet little Kimberly, might have been brainwashed by that… that… that **_hideous dyke hypnotist_**, well, this turned Big Jim’s world upside-down. Terrified, he imagined his daughter, zonked out in a deep trance, mindlessly saying, “_Yes, mistress, I am your slave, I will obey you,_” as the black-clad woman laughed and laughed. Then the woman would issue her perverted orders, and the enslaved Kimberly would have no choice but to submit to the other woman’s unnatural **_lesbian_** whims.

One thing was certain: If Big Jim did nothing, his poor little girl was lost to homosexuality forever.

His first instinct was to confront the black-clad woman directly. Have Officer Kilgore arrest her on the spot for… well, for something. Indecency, perhaps. Then throw her in jail and make sure Judge Hawkins sent up away for a long, long time.

But what if the she-witch used her hypno powers on others? Big Jim didn’t know anything about hypnosis, but he was pretty sure that it was transmitted by eye contact. Weak-willed people, like Kimberly, were the most susceptible, which meant that Kilgore would be in her power within seconds. And Big Jim couldn’t rule out that he’d be able to resist the hypnotic lure, either.

Fuming and afraid, the mayor watched the teens a little longer. When the hypnotized boy was forced to dance and sing like Michael Jackson, he’d had enough.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he muttered to Thomas.

The two men trudged back across the Dairy Queen parking lot.

Thomas watched his employer carefully. “You… want me to keep following the kids?” he asked, uncertain.

“Yeah,” Big Jim said numbly. “Yeah, I need to know who the chick in the black clothes is. Find out where she lives. Don’t let her see you.”

Without another word, he hopped into Kilgore’s patrol car. “Take me back to the office,” he ordered the deputy.

*********

By the time he’d reached his desk, Big Jim had formulated a plan.

“Cancel my afternoon,” he barked at Mabel through the intercom, then reached for his rolodex.

The secretary was astonished. “Cancel it…?” she echoed, appearing at the office doorway. “Jim, you’re to meet with Bethany Bikulla and the New Enterprises people in an hour.”

Big Jim hesitated. Oh yeah. After his shakedown, Ms. Bikulla had bent over, and agreed to his demands. He just needed to sign the contracts, and the bribes- er, **_municipal fees_** would be committed. To put off this meeting risked that New Enterprises’ lawyers might find a way to wriggle out of Big Jim’s grip.

The mayor cursed, thinking quickly. To hell with it, he decided. Ms. Bikulla could wait. A day’s delay wouldn’t risk much, and it would remind the New Enterprises people that they were at his mercy.

Besides, Kimberly’s future as a heterosexual Christian was at stake. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

“Cancel New Enterprises,” Big Jim frowned, already flipping through his rolodex. “Squeeze them in for tomorrow morning. Now leave me alone.”

Mabel knew better than to question the boss. She swallowed, then shut his door.

*********

A natural politician, Big Jim could work magic over the phone. He started calling old Vietnam war buddies, cajoling them about old times, feigning interest in their current lives, making them laugh at his crude jokes. Oh, when he turned on the charm, there was little that Big Jim couldn’t learn from you.

“Hey, listen,” he would ask his old mates after sufficiently buttering them up, “just curious, but… you heard from Mad Dog Zeller lately?”

That name always caused the laughter on the other side of the phone to trail off. “…_Mad Dog?_” many of Jim’s friends said, their voices suddenly quiet. “_Uh, no, haven’t heard from him._”

“I figured, pay it no mind,” Big Jim would quickly assure them. “I was just wondering what became of that old psycho.”

Jim’s friends would immediately change the subject. Big Jim permitted the conversation to roll on for a few more minutes before faking an excuse to go.

*********

After two hours of placing calls, Big Jim finally picked up a lead. He was talking with Hank “Hamburger” Gills, one of the infantry guys from back in the day.

“_Mad Dog?_” Hamburger said, alarmed. “_Why you want to know about Mad Dog?_”

“Oh,” said Big Jim, hoping he sounded casual, “no reason. Was thinking about the old days, and wondered whatever happened to that guy. That’s all.”

There was a pause.

“_Mad Dog left the service a few years back,_” Hamburger said quietly. “_I heard he was doing some private security work for, um, Westinghouse. I think._”

Big Jim leaned forward in his chair. “Westinghouse, you say?”

“_Maybe, I don’t know,_” Hamburger mumbled quickly.

The mayor of Hickory Valley licked his lips, smelling the information he sought. “But you’ve seen him recently? Like… in the last few years?”

“_Why you asking about this, man?_” asked Hamburger. He was suspicious. And fearful.

Big Jim rubbed his bald head, weighing different responses. He picked the direct approach.

“I want to find him,” he said plainly. “Mad Dog ‘n me, we have some… business. Don’t ask.”

“_I won’t,_” replied Hamburger. Yet he didn’t offer any more information.

Big Jim scowled. “Hammy, you listen to me. I need to talk to Mad Dog, and I need you to point me in his direction. You do this for your old brother Jim, you get me? Do it for Big Jim. Don’t make me find a reason to prod you.”

Hamburger sighed, a weighty exhale. “_You got a pen?_” he asked.

*********

Mad Dog had not gone to Westinghouse. He now ran a private security company, one that was unlisted in public directories. Even with the information from Hamburger and a tip from an FBI agent on Big Jim’s take, it took some sleuthing to find the company’s phone number. It took even more charm and guile for Big Jim to talk his way past the suspicious woman who answered the phone.

Yet, after some convincing, the line transferred. “_Speak_,” said a creaky voice in Jim’s receiver.

The mayor of Hickory Valley instinctively shuddered. He hadn’t heard that voice in over a decade. It still made his flesh crawl.

“Mad Dog?” he began. “Hey, how you doin’? Its James Stamper. From the 103rd.”

“_James…_” Mad Dog rasped. “_Yeah, I remember you. How’d you get this number?_”

Big Jim, seeing no way around that question, detailed his detective work.

“_I see,_” grumbled Mad Dog, sounding displeased. “_Well. You’ve identified some loose ends._” He made a growling sound, and then Big Jim heard the sound of a cigarette lighter click. “_Never mind. What can I do for you, James?_”

Finally! Time to get to the point.

“Listen,” Big Jim said delicately. “You remember the village in Vinh Hong? The one where-“

“_I recall it well_,” Mad Dog interrupted. He did not sound amused. “_What about it?_”

“There was that guy we found there,” said Big Jim. “The American guy. He was that GI who lost his shit and went AWOL, remember? Tried to hide out with the natives, or something. I can’t remember what. But-“

“_Rodney McClarren,_” Mad Dog rumbled. “_Charged with dereliction of duty. Served three years in military prison, I think._”

“Rodney, right, right,” the mayor nodded. He paused slightly before proceeding. “Now… the brass had reason to think that old Rodney might be a Vietcong sympathizer. And they… brought you in to talk to him.”

There was silence on the line.

“Right?” prodded Big Jim.

Mad Dog exhaled. “_That was a CIA op, James. You know I can’t talk about that._”

“Aw, com’on,” Jim scowled. “I don’t want to know what Rodney told you. What I want to know is… Rodney was screaming about how the USA was all fucked up and how we deserved to lose the war and raving about all kinds of crazy shit. But then you came. And you and your team took Rodney into that black bunker for a few days. And when Rodney came out…”

Big Jim gestured. “Well, suddenly ol’ Rodney was mighty patriotic. He told all of us that he’d been wrong, that he loved America, that he would volunteer for three more tours, once he got out of prison. You completely turned him around.”

The mayor let his voice grow sterner. “You hypnotized Rodney, didn’t you? Got in his head, straightened him out. **_Right?_**”

“_Now James,_” Mad Dog said sternly, “_you aren’t asking from idle curiosity, are you?_”

Big Jim swore to himself. He’d hoped to avoid revealing his own motivations. “I… got a need for a master hypnotist. Figured you might be able to help me.”

“_Open the Yellow Pages,_” advised the ex-CIA man.

“I don’t want that touchy-feely shit, man,” Big Jim scoffed. “I need what you did to Rodney. I need to straighten out someone so they’re on the level. For life.” The image of the black-clad woman swam into Big Jim’s thought. “Perhaps I need to hypnotize another person, too. One who’s a bad egg. Make her go away, before something really bad happens.”

Hoping he sounded determined, the mayor added, “You get me, right?”

Mad Dog drew on his cigarette. “_I get you,_” he replied. “_What you’re asking for… I don’t think you understand the seriousness-_“

Despite himself, Big Jim lost patience. “Brother-to-brother, man,” he said, “can you help me?”

Another pause.

“_You’re the mayor of what town again?_” Mad Dog asked. When Big Jim replied honestly, he could hear papers rustling on the other side of the phone. Then there was another silence.

“Well?” the mayor demanded.

“_I can help you,_” Mad Dog said plainly. “_But there will be a price._”

Big Jim winced. He didn’t like the sound of that. “What price?”

“_Well,_” the other man replied slowly, “_this is where it gets awkward, James. You’re asking me to do you a favor, with no questions asked, right? I can respect that. But in return, I’ll need two things._”

“What things?”

“_I need to know you’re committed,_” Mad Dog replied evenly. “_So my company will need two hundred thousand. In cash. That’s not a problem, right?_”

“Sure, no problem,” said Big Jim.

“_I’ll also need for you to do me a favor, someday,_” added Mad Dog. He exhaled. “_When the time comes, no questions asked. Fair is fair, after all._”

Thinking quickly, Big Jim weighed the situation. “What about… three hundred thousand, and no favor?”

“_No,_” said Mad Dog sternly. “_My terms are my terms. And I don’t negotiate, James._”

What was a father to do? If Big Jim did nothing, Kimberly could soon be dressing in all-black, worshiping at the satanic alter of homosexuality and immorality. Time was of the essence.

“Okay, agreed,” he said.

“_Very well,_” Mad Dog replied, pleased.

“So… you’ll come down to Hickory Valley?” Big Jim asked.

“_Not me,_” said Mad Dog. “_I don’t perform that kind of work anymore. But here’s what I am going to do, James. There’s a young man who works for me. Lester. I’ll send him, and he’ll… do what you need done._”

“A young guy?” Big Jim repeated. “But why-“

“_Lester is the best,_” insisted Mad Dog. “_I can’t go into details._”

Big Jim frowned. “Okay,” was all he said. “We got a deal, then.”

*********


	3. Two Hundred Thousand, in Cash

“Her name is Skyler Jansson,” Stanley Thomas reported, reading from his little notebook.

“Skyler?” spat Big Jim. “What the fuck kind of name is **_Skyler?_**”

It was late, perhaps eleven PM. The two men were alone in the parking lot of City Hall, taking care to stay out of the only streetlight. Big Jim was angrily puffing on one of his cigars, something he did when his mind was in overdrive.

“Yeah, Skyler,” shrugged Thomas. “She’s twenty years old, a drop-out student from Missouri U. Women’s studies, or some feminine crap like that. Sounds like she’s one of those bra-burning hippies.”

“Great,” sneered Big Jim. He scowled. “So how does she know hypnosis?”

“Uh…” Thomas fretted. He doublechecked his notes. “Actually, I got no idea. Her employment records don’t say anything about it.”

The mayor frowned. “Find out. Discreetly talk to her friends, if you have to. Bribe ‘em to keep their mouths shut.”

On the spot, Big Jim decided: He’d use Mag Dog’s man to hypnotize both Kimberly and this Skyler. Kimberly would be programmed to become a sweet Christian girl again. And Skyler? She could be mind-wiped so that she would never do hypnosis again, and never set foot in Hickory Valley again. Hell, if the Lester kid was good enough, maybe Skyler’s brains could be scrambled to the point where she suddenly decided to go and study yak farts in Mongolia. Anything to send her far, far away.

*********

The next morning, Mabel had squeezed in a last-minute meeting with Bethany Bikulla onto Jim’s calendar. The New Enterprises executive had agreed to come to City Hall.

“I gots some unfortunate news,” Big Jim began, once Ms. Bikulla had seated herself at the conference table. “I talked with the manager of Terry’s Paving. Your people overlooked the state regulations on modifying an off-ramp. There’s going to be additional costs.”

“Oh?” Ms. Bikulla said. Her mouth tightened.

Big Jim spread his hands. “The best-laid plans of mice and men, and all that. I hate to break it to you.”

Composing herself, Ms. Bikulla said, “I’d like to see an itemized breakdown of the new cost projections.”

“Of course, of course,” the mayor assured her. “But if you still want to open McCulloch Mall by first of December, then Terry’s gonna need some liquid capital immediately. Or else you risk local talent getting sucked up by other construction jobs.”

“I see,” the female executive frowned. She sighed. “How much?”

“Two hundred thousand,” Big Jim said solemnly. “In cash.”

*********

Kimberly stayed out late that night. Watching the clock in his living room, Big Jim grew more and more anxious. His daughter was out with that horrid lesbian, wasn’t she? Probably falling deeper under the slut’s hypnosis spell. Probably losing what little of her free will she had left. The big man cursed himself for the circumstances.

Just when Johnny Carson was beginning his opening monologue, the front door creaked open softly.

Immediately, Big Jim flew into the foyer, fit to be tied. Sure enough, there was his daughter, sneaking in, and looking mighty guilty.

It was too much for Big Jim. “**_Where the fuck you been?_**” he roared, making all three Great Danes jump.

Kimberly, not expecting the verbal assault, screamed.

“Answer me!” cried Big Jim.

“Oh, Dad!” glared Kimberly. “I was **_out_**, okay?”

“With… with who?” Jim sputtered.

“My friends!”

Cynthia, who had been in bed, rushed to the top of the stairs. “Hey you two, is everything alright?” she called down.

Big Jim ignored his wife. “I want to know who all your friends are,” he demanded of his daughter, pointing a thick finger at her.

But Kimberly would have none of it. “You want to control my life, is that it, Dad?” she howled. “You want me to stay in this house and be miserable forever?”

“Aw, come off it,” scoffed her father. “I just… want to know that you are-“

“You want me to stay locked up!” accused Kimberly. “Like Rapunzel, huh? Well **_fuck you_**, Dad, as soon as I can, I’m leaving forever, to see New York!”

At the ‘_fuck you_,’ Big Jim saw red. “**_WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?_**” he bellowed. “**_You little-_**“

“Go to hell!” Kimberly screamed, and rushed up the stairs. Her footfalls receded into the house. Her bedroom door slammed.

The mayor stared after her, outraged and stunned. Kimberly had never acted so rebellious before. The hypnotism warping her brain was powerful, indeed. With dread, he wondered if it was too late to save her.

*********

The next morning, Big Jim had to attend to official duties. The farms on the outskirts of town demanded a zoning survey. Which mean the mayor was needed to review the affected acres before the accessors could begin work. Which in turn meant Jim would spend five hours doing nothing but driving across the farmlands in his beloved red Bronco. He spent barely five minutes at the Silver Diner to get his coffee that morning.

By mid-afternoon, the big man was in the foulest of moods when he finally reached City Hall.

“Oh boss…?” Mabel said nervously, as he passed her desk.

“Not now,” snarled Big Jim, and stormed into his own office. He shut the door behind him.

There were aspirins in his left desk drawer. Rubbing his stiff neck, the mayor moved to assume his chair, already thinking ahead through the rest of the day. Had the New Enterprises people coughed up their two grand yet?

Wait – there was a man sitting at the desk!

Big Jim cried out, instinctively dropping into a combat stance.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” the man said, smirking.

Jim blinked, then glared. The new fellow was young, maybe in his mid-twenties? Heavy for his tall height, with a bulging gut and a double chin, the man did not cut an imposing figure. But his haircut was neatly trimmed, his dark suit and matching shoes spoke well of his fashion tastes. The man’s plump face was handsome, with glinting grey eyes that sized up Big Jim carefully. He sat comfortably at the desk.

“Who the fuck are you?” Big Jim growled, his two fists still ready to throw a punch. Big Jim could throw a mean punch.

“Take it easy,” the man replied, rising to his feet. He extended one hand. “I’m Lester. Mad Dog sent me.”

It took a second for Big Jim to recall the name. “Right, right,” he grumbled, returning the handshake. “Now get the fuck away from my desk.”

“Sure, didn’t mean to offend,” Lester replied airily. He ambled over to the couches.

“You got a last name?”

“I do,” admitted Lester, “but Mad Dog felt it best that you know as little about me as possible. Terms of the deal, I’m afraid.” He sat on a sofa, smoothing the folds of his suit coat. “So, do you have our fee?”

The two hundred thousand, in cash. “Its coming,” Big Jim said tightly. He didn’t trust this Lester.

The other man frowned, but did not protest.

“So,” Big Jim said warily, “you’re a hypnotist?” He moved to the couches, but did not sit down.

“In part,” bragged Lester. “What I do… it starts with hypnotism, but there are other techniques I use, too. Regular hypnotism can affect a person temporally, but the enhanced techniques I use cause lasting change.” The man positively glowed with arrogance.

“You can change people’s thinking?” Big Jim wanted to know. “Undo another hypnotist’s damage?”

Lester didn’t directly answer the question. “I think its time you told me what you need, Mr. Stamper,” he said evenly.

“Hold on,” Big Jim insisted. “I wanna know. What can you do?” A sudden, horrible thought struck him. “Can you hypnotize anyone, anywhere? At any time?”

Lester guessed the mayor’s concern. “I can’t hypnotize you, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said.

Relieved, Big Jim nodded. “Because I’m too strong-willed. Right?”

“No, the strong-willed thing is a myth,” Lester scoffed. “You know my special talents, and you’re on guard against them. I can only do what I do to the unsuspecting.”

Puzzled, Big Jim cocked his head to one side. “How so?”

Lester sighed, then stood. “Call your secretary in here, will you?”

“MABEL!” Big Jim bellowed.

There was a rush of footfalls outside the door, and then Mabel poked her head within the large room. “Sorry, boss?” she asked.

“C’mere,” Big Jim ordered.

Looking uncertain, the secretary approached. She clutched her notebook, as always.

“Hi, I’m Lester,” the hypnotist said, grinning like a car salesman. He moved forward, extending a warm hand. His charisma was radiant.

Mabel blinked at him, then extended her own hand.

What happened next was too quick for Big Jim’s eye. Lester sprang forward like a cat, seizing Mabel by the wrist and shoulder. He yanked her arm, shouting “**_SLEEP NOW!_**” in an aggressive voice.

Instantly, the secretary collapsed in his arms. Her notebook clattered to the floor. Big Jim’s eyes popped.

Lester worked fast. He shifted the limp Mabel into one arm, and his free hand moved to gently tap her on the forehead. The man spoke in low, rapid-fire sentences, murmuring to his victim about how she felt relaxed and trusting, how she hadn’t a care in the world, how she would follow and obey everything she was instructed to do while in this strange sleep. Mabel never once offered a flicker of resistance.

“You see?” the hypnotist said proudly. “Your secretary here is under, deep. Technically, this is **_beyond_** hypnosis, because I’ve overridden her conscious mind completely. She’ll awaken without the faintest memory of all of this, yet she’ll carry out my instructions absolutely believing that everything she does is her own idea. It’s a highly specialized technique.”

“Fuck me,” Big Jim murmured. “All you ex-CIA boys can do this?”

“This has nothing to do with the CIA,” snapped Lester, annoyed. “No, only the most advanced of masters can do this. And only on the unsuspecting, remember.”

“Listen to me,” Lester said, turning his attention back to his entranced subject. “In a moment, I’ll snap my fingers. When you awake, you will remember nothing. But for now on, you will address your boss as ‘_my Lord_,’ without any hesitation or questions. You will also believe that you are a horse. Oh, you can still speak and use your arms and hands like a human, but otherwise, you will be completely horselike. Awaken now!”

He snapped his fingers once, loudly.

Mabel opened her eyes, standing upright. She looked slightly disoriented.

“Pleased to meet you,” Lester said to her, as if nothing unusual had occurred.

“Oh, uh, you too…” Mabel replied. She frowned as she stooped to collect her notebook.

“You see?” grinned Lester. “She has no memory of what just happened.”

“What just happened?” asked Mabel, confused. One of her feet began to paw the floor.

“Nothing, forget it,” Big Jim told her.

A funny look crossed the secretary’s face. “Very well,” she said to Big Jim. “Is there anything you need, my lord?”

The mayor, impressed, shook his head.

Mabel actually tossed her head, whinnying. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the next room, my lord,” she said. Then, with a snort, she turned and trotted from the room.

“There. You see?” Lester crowed, his grin becoming wider.

Big Jim stared after his secretary.

“She’ll do or believe anything I tell her,” boasted Lester, once again sitting. He lazily crossed his legs, stretching his arms across the back of the couch. “We’ve tested this; the effects of this kind of trance are particularly irresistible.”

“Jesus Christ,” Big Jim mumbled. “You’re telling me… the government can do that now?”

“No,” replied Lester, his warm expression hardening. “Uncle Sam can’t do that. Only the most elite masters; I told you that already. And only to those who-“

“…are unsuspecting, yeah,” said the mayor. He rubbed his chin. “How long will she stay like that?” he asked, jerking his head in the direction of Mabel.

Lester’s wide grin returned. “Forever,” he smirked. “If I do nothing. Don’t worry, I’ll release her before I go. Unless you want your secretary to graze on the lawn, that is.”

“Fuck me,” Big Jim exclaimed, mostly to himself.

*********

Kimberly ducked under the loose chain-link fence, then hurried across the empty yard. The sun was high overhead, beaming down on an absolutely beautiful afternoon. The teenager felt wild and free.

Her father had never realized it, but the high school years had been hard on poor Kimberly. Oh, she was very beautiful, but making friends was extremely difficult for her. She was brainy and shy, always preferring a thick historical biography over meeting new people. Parties made her feel anxious. She’d been a complete disaster at the high school dating game. And the other kids had smelled her fear.

Worse, Kimberly’s peers saw her as the privileged daughter of the Mayor, and they resented her for it. Her few friendships proved to be brittle. Girls had whispered horrid rumors behind her back. Cute boys feigned an interest in her, but were rapidly exposed to be more interested in her father’s properties and wealth. More than once, Kimberly had slunk home, alone and in tears, unable to put up with the merciless teasing for another day.

But now that school was over, the young woman felt liberated. No more teenage social drama!

Now, if only she could pack her bags and see the world. Big Jim had forbidden her to apply to college – he had never gone, of course – so she was stuck in Hickory Valley, at least for the time being. But she’d find a way to escape.

Someday…

Now Kimberly was at the oak tree. Puzzled, she unslung her backpack, then looked about. What the heck? Hadn’t she and Sky agreed that they’d meet under the oak on Cyrus Johnson’s property? Was Sky late?

A flicker of doubt touched the young woman. What if Sky wasn’t coming?

_No_, she reminded herself. _Sky loves you. She’ll be here._

There was a soft rustling from above, and then the air was filled with thick green leaves. Surprised, Kimberly looked upward.

“Gotcha!” Skyler laughed.

The older woman had actually climbed the tree, waited, and once Kimberly was below, had playfully tossed down a handful of leaves! As Kimberly gawked, Skyler laughed again. Her laughter was musical.

“You bitch!” Kimberly exclaimed, delighted.

“Oh, you love it,” Skyler teased, sliding off her tree bough. The black-clad woman gripped the tree trunk, dropping down next to Kimberly like a cat. Both girls quickly moved to embrace each other.

“Hey,” Skyler said, her voice barely a whisper, “I missed you today.”

“I missed you too,” Kimberly admitted.

The teenager thought her new girlfriend was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. She’d never liked the Goth look… until she’d met Skyler.

Kimberly and Skyler’s first encounter had been by complete chance; literally bumping into one another at the state fair. Kimberly had been taken with Skyler’s gorgeous eyes, and then her wicked sense of humor. In a moment of complete spontaneity, both girls decided to ditch the fair and spent that afternoon in Jake Humphrey’s orchard, stealing underripe apples and talking.

Skyler seemed so exciting to Kimberly. A child of a messy divorce, Skyler had lived in fourteen different states, and she seemed to have an adventure from each one. In Philadelphia, she’d learned how to street dance. In Florida, how to drive a bayou boat across the Everglades. In California, she’d learned hypnosis. (Kimberly declined to be a volunteer.) In New Hampshire, Skyler had worked briefly as an exotic dancer. She’d even attended Missouri U for a few semesters, at least until her money ran out. Skyler had hundreds of life stories, each more interesting than the last.

And to Kimberly’s amazement, her new friend enjoyed hanging out with her, too. Skyler saw past Kimberly’s awkwardness, and still thought the younger woman was one cool chick. The teenager hadn’t been prepared for that.

Skyler taught Kimberly how to smoke, and how to properly watch a horror movie. Kimberly regaled Skyler with her dreams of seeing America. The more time they spent together, the more they clicked. By the end of that first magical week, the two young women were in love.

Skyler playfully slapped Kimberly on the butt. “C’mon, sexy,” the black-haired beauty cracked. “Let’s go find some real fun, eh?”

The teenager melted at this show of affection. After all the scorn she’d known in high school, it was amazing to Kimberly that this woman, this wonderful Skyler, loved her for **_who she was_**, just as she was. The realization was… intoxicating.

“Okay,” Kimberly twittered, aware that she was blushing.

“Groovy,” declared Skyler, and flashed an ironic smile. She took Kimberly’s hand. “You know, I heard that-“

“**_FREEZE!_**” a man’s voice shouted, very nearby.

Both women jumped, frightened to death.

In a flash, four Hickory Valley policemen were upon them, brandishing nightsticks and handcuffs. Skyler was rudely seized, spun around, then forced to her knees. Kimberly cried out as strong hands clamped onto her arms. She felt her hands pulled behind her back, and then she was rushed from the scene.

*********

“_We got ‘em, boss,_” Chief Tinker said over the phone. The older man’s voice was lined with worry.

“You did the right thing, Mac,” Big Jim told him, sitting at his desk. “These girls, they were on the road to making some really, really bad choices. Best for them if you give ‘em a good scare, now.”

“_Yessir,_” Tinker replied. He still sounded doubtful.

Big Jim gave up on convincing the old coot. “Just confine my daughter in one of the empty offices on the ground floor,” he ordered. “But the chick in black clothes? Put her in the interrogation room. I’ll be right down.” Then he hung up the phone.

“You ready for this?” Lester asked, standing beside Jim’s desk.

The mayor looked up at his guest in surprise. “Ready? Whaddya I got to be ready for?” he asked suspiciously.

“We’re about to hypnotize and alter your daughter,” Lester reminded him. “Maybe it would be best to… as you say, just give her a good scare? But let her alone?”

Big Jim reclined in his chair, cracking his knuckles. He considered, but with a frown on his face.

“Naw,” he finally decided. “The girl needs an attitude adjustment. You’re gonna get in her head and straighten her out, you hear me? Its for her own good.”

“You’re the boss,” Lester shrugged. “Listen, there’s something I forgot to ask you.”

Big Jim’s eyebrow rose.

“Your Kimberly has been spending a lot of time with this other woman, right?” Lester asked. “So what do I program her to think she’s been doing all this time? Because if we erase her memory, we have to fill that gap with something. Or else, she’ll eventually realize something’s wrong.”

Big Jim muttered a curse. “I don’t know, Kimberly doesn’t really have friends… I’ll be damned if I know what she does in her spare time.”

“Not home much, are you?” Lester said crassly.

The mayor glared at the younger man. “Just make her think that she’s been spending all this time, ah, reading books.”

“Reading?” echoed Lester.

“Yeah, reading,” shrugged Big Jim. “She likes reading those big, thick biographies of people in history, you know? She can spend all day in her room with that shit. So make her think she’s been reading more than usual.”

“Its better than nothing,” Lester said.

*********

Skyler sat in the holding room, scared out of her mind. She’d been in this drab, gray room for what? An hour? Longer? Much longer? She had no idea. There was no clock, no windows, nothing but the chair and the faint buzz of the florescent light in the ceiling.

The young woman hugged her legs against her torso. She’d never been arrested before. Sure, there had been close calls in the past, but never had the cops actually slapped on the cuffs and read her the freakin’ Miranda rights. Jesus, what was she supposed to do? Demand a lawyer? She had no experience in such matters, none whatsoever. The uncertainty was crushing.

And what of Kimberly? Skyler squeezed her eyes shut in despair. Poor, beautiful Kimberly. She’d been arrested too, although the two young lovers had been stuffed into separate police cars. Lord knew where Kim was now. The teenager had once mentioned – in passing – that her arrogant father was a city official, the chief of police, or something. Perhaps Kimberly was being escorted home with a slap on the wrist? Skyler desperately hoped so.

The heavy metal door clicked, and then slowly swung open. So Skyler quickly dried her tears, and forced herself to sit up in the chair. She held her head high.

Two men entered, neither of which Skyler had ever seen before. The first man was in his early fifties, a big, stocky guy with a fierce glare and a shining, bald head. His sharp eyes bore down on Skyler with barely-disguised revulsion. The second man, pudgy and in his twenties, wore a crisp suit and was careful to remain a step behind Baldie. It was obvious which of the two men was in charge.

“Well, now,” the older fellow said, his tone threatening. “Miss Skyler Janet Jansson. Age twenty. Living out by Westcopper Trailer Park. No relatives in the area. And horrible taste in clothes.” He folded his meaty arms across his chest. “Just what exactly are you doing in Hickory Valley?”

“Am I charged with a crime?” Skyler demanded. Her voice sounded small, but defiant.

“I’m thinking about Corruption of a Minor,” the man said, cocking his head to one side. “You’ve been luring young Kimberly Stamper all kinds of bad things, haven’t you? Trespassing. Smoking. Deviant **_sex_** behavior.” He spat out that last charge.

Inside, Skyler despaired. Baldie didn’t strike her as a man sympatric to romantic love between women.

“Where is Kim?” she demanded. “I didn’t do anything with-“

“Oh, we’ve just had a little talk with Kimberly,” intoned the man, his eyes blazing. “You don’t have to worry about her ever again. Things are straightened out on that end.”

The imposing bald fellow stepped forward, looming over Skyler. “But you…” he growled. “I don’t like you. I don’t like freaks who dress all in black and corrupt the innocent youth of my town. If it were solely up to me, I’d send you to State Prison in a heartbeat.”

The young woman forced herself to stare back at the huge man. It was hard, as the fellow’s gaze was positively withering. But she was not about to back down.

“Now, here’s the thing,” the man continued. “We here in Hickory Valley, we’re compassionate people. Simple folk. When we see something abhorrent, our instinct is to fix that thing, not throw it away. So I’m about to do you a big favor. A big, big favor. You’ll thank me when we’re done, I’m sure.”

Skyler had no idea about what the man was raving, but she didn’t like it. “I want a phone call,” she insisted, wishing she felt braver.

The big man ignored her demand. He straightened, looking towards his companion. “Do it to her, eh?” he commanded.

Suddenly, the twenty-something guy in the suit was reaching for Skyler. “Look at me?” he asked, leaning in.

The young woman shrank back.

The younger fellow’s hand grasped her shoulder, pressing lightly. “Look at me,” he repeated. His voice was quick and firm.

Skyler found herself staring into his cool hazel eyes. Was he-

“**_SLEEP!_**” the man shouted, snapping a finger before Skyler’s face.

To her astonishment, Skyler’s body sagged. She felt as if she were suddenly cast into a world of perfect tranquility, where her body was dissolving into pure relaxation. Her fears scattered like dead leaves and within seconds, she tasted a calmness she had never known before.

All the while, the young man was murmuring things to her in a machine gun-like pattern. “You go deeper and deeper,” he rattled off, “allowing yourself to go as deeply as possible. You feel no tension, no stress, no worry. Only my voice within your mind. Now relax deeper, and find that you want to obey everything I tell you…”

On and on his voice droned. Skyler struggled to listen, but she could not keep up. Her thoughts were overwhelmed by the supreme relaxation possessing her and the flood of instruction from the young man. Soon, her awareness faded completely, and she knew no more.

*********


	4. Suggestions and Consequences

“There,” Lester announced, lifting one of Skyler’s limp arms off her lap. The black-clad woman was completely lifeless, merely sitting there, her eyes closed, her face without expression. “I’ve got her. She’s mine, now.”

“Okay,” Big Jim glowered. “Now, let’s get the truth from her. I want to know when she first met and hypnotized Kimberly. Get me?”

Lester nodded, turning back to the young woman in the chair. “In a moment,” he instructed her, “I will snap my fingers. When I do, you will sit up, but remain in a deep, deep trance. You will automatically respond to all my questions with nothing but the absolute truth. You will find that the instant I speak a question, you **_must_** speak the truthful answer aloud. You cannot resist.”

In one smooth gesture, Lester snapped his fingers. Skyler straightened her back, yet her eyes remained shut.

“Very good,” Lester complimented her. “Now, how long have you known hypnotism?”

In a small, dead voice, the sleeping Skyler replied: “…three months.”

“Three months?” Lester echoed. He threw a quizzical expression at Big Jim. “That’s not very long at all. She’s a total amateur.”

“Ask about Kimberly,” insisted the mayor. “When did this chick get to Kimberly?”

“Tell me,” Lester said, “when did you first hypnotize Kimberly Stamper?”

Skyler didn’t respond.

“Is your control over her not working?” Big Jim frowned. “What’s with this?”

The hypnotist peered at Skyler, puzzled. “No, she’s under deep, alright,” he mused. “But why…”

“Skyler,” he said in his oozing, seductive hypnovoice, “how many times have you hypnotized Kimberly Stamper?”

“Zero,” was the automatic reply.

Both men recoiled. “Aw, you’ve screwed up,” Big Jim accused Lester. “She’s lying, she must-“

“No, no,” the younger man said quickly. “Look…”

He placed a hand on Skyler’s forehead, then gently lifted one of her closed eyelids. “See?” the hypnotist insisted. “She’s so relaxed, her eyeballs are rolled all the way up into their sockets. She’s hypnotized, alright. You can’t fake that.”

Big Jim huffed, “Then why-“

“Sometimes when people go into trance very quickly, their brains think they are dreaming,” mused Lester. “That’s fine for most hypnotic suggestions you give them. But it can screw up the truth-telling thing. Her subconscious is probably giving us dreamed-up answers.”

The mayor frowned. “Fine. Forget it. Just program her to leave Kimberly alone. In fact, command her to leave Hickory Valley and **_never_** come back, get me?”

“Jesus,” Lester said, staring at Skyler’s body. “You know, with all this frumpy black shit she likes to wear, you never realize what a nice piece of ass she is.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You wanna see her boobs?”

Big Jim was a corrupt man, but even he had his limits. “What?” he growled. “No, absolutely fucking no! Don’t you have any morals?”

“Aw, com’on,” Lester told him. “She’ll do whatever I tell her, and she’ll remember nothing later.” In a sly voice, he added, “I’ve done this to women before.”

A wave of disgust swept over Big Jim. “You pervert. Don’t you fucking think about it. Just take her lust for Kimberly out of her mind, then make her leave town. **_Nothing more_**.”

Lester, still gazing at Skyler’s chest, set his jaw.

“You hear me?” Big Jim said dangerously.

“Fine,” the hypnotist grudgingly replied. “I’ll need about a hour with her.”

“An hour?”

Lester folded his arms across his chest. “I have to go into her memory, find when she first decided to corrupt your daughter, and work from there. Plus, it will take some reinforcement to get her to want to leave town. You can’t do that kind of shit in a few sentences.”

In his head, Big Jim swore. Bethany Bikulla of New Enterprises was scheduled to be in his office within fifteen minutes. Officially, the purpose of the meeting was to review “_final municipal details concerning the start of construction for the Benjamin McCulloch Shopping Mall._” But the true purpose was the delivery of two hundred thousand dollars, in cash. Jim needed that cash to pay off Mad Dog.

The meeting couldn’t be postponed. Jim had already antagonized Ms. Bikulla as much as she dared. If he jilted her just once more, she might lose patience and go to the state district attorney, or even the Justice Department.

Besides, if she brought the money, it was wise to secure it immediately. That much cash in a briefcase was probably too much temptation for Murphy’s Law.

But the moment Big Jim left Lester alone with the hypnotized Skyler… well, it was obvious what would happen. There was no way the mayor could keep an eye on his partner-in-crime **_and_** attend the meeting.

Fuming, Big Jim made a snap decision. He had to meet with Ms. Bikulla. Period. And if the sicko Skyler got abused by sicko Lester… well, there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

Besides, the mayor reasoned, perhaps a forced encounter with a man was exactly what this Skyler woman needed. Maybe once she was sucking Lester’s penis or getting fucked like the bitch she was, then she’d drop her deviant lesbian ways. She’d get a taste for cock, want more, and then go off to marry some hayseed hick. Getting hypnotized for sex might be the best thing for her, really.

“Fine,” Big Jim huffed. “I’ll be back in an hour, then.”

He turned his back and stormed out of the room.

*********

“Mr. Mayor,” Bethany Bikulla said stiffly.

Big Jim had found the prissy real estate executive in his office, standing before his desk. A thin, plain briefcase was in her hands. A small, mousey gentleman in a plain suit stood beside her, nervously eyeing the mounted deer heads.

“Well, hello again, Ms. Bikulla,” the mayor grinned, as if he was looking forward to this social visit. “Uh, who’s your friend…?”

“This is Mr. Clarence,” Bikulla replied coolly. “He’s from New Enterprises’ Accounting Department.”

Big Jim hesitated for a moment, before shrugging. He hadn’t expected anyone but Ms. Bikulla, but what of it? Perhaps the accountant was necessary to transfer the money…? He’d be patient and find out.

So the mayor shut his office door, then moved to shake the New Enterprise people’s hands. Mr. Clarence’s handshake was particularly limp.

“Nice day today, isn’t it?” Big Jim remarked, going to sit at his desk. “You know, if you folks have a spare hour or so, you might want to check out the Apple Festival-“

“My schedule is booked, Mr. Mayor,” Ms. Bikulla said tightly. “Can we resolve our remaining issues? I have a construction meeting later this afternoon.”

Big Jim was not used to being interrupted. A flash of annoyance crossed his expression, but he quickly suppressed it. “Sure,” he said simply.

“Very well,” Ms. Bikulla replied. She popped open the briefcase, removing a small folder of documents. “I’ll need your signatures on a number of items…”

The papers were handed over, and Big Jim scanned them. These were construction permits, drafted letters of agreement between New Hickory and New Enterprises, and legal wavers. Every document had the stench of lawyers all over them; no doubt, the New Enterprises Legal Department had spent hours crafting these.

“Mr. Clarence here is a public notary,” Ms. Bikulla explained, laying a fountain pen before Big Jim. “Now, if you can just provide your John Hancock…”

In a flash, Big Jim saw Ms. Bikulla’s gambit. She had thought through every phase of the mall’s construction, and drafted the documents to ensure New Enterprises could build their mall without any more interference from Hickory Valley’s City Hall. If Jim signed these, there would be no future opportunities for graft, fines, extra fees, or other sneaky ways of charging money. He wouldn’t even be able to raise their taxes.

The notary would endorse the papers, and then all of Jim’s power over the new mall would evaporate instantly. Ms. Bikulla had thought of everything.

Jim’s first angry instinct was to refuse, to push back, to counterthreaten this encroachment on his authority. New Enterprises wanted immunity from the Mayor’s Office? How dare they!

But if he were to cause a stink now… Lawyers would be called. Lawsuits would be filed. Reporters would catch wind that something was up. And no doubt, Ms. Bikulla would have the means to tip them off. The whole mall project could unravel into a scandal overnight.

And besides, Hickory Valley needed that mall. It would bring people to their little town, increase their tax base, provide good jobs for the locals. There was a lot to be gained. And, Big Jim grudgingly reminded himself, he’d already skimmed a generous cut. Sometimes, it was best to be happy with what you already had.

As if she guessed what he was thinking, Ms. Bikulla opened the briefcase, just a little. Big Jim could see stacks of neatly-wrapped hundred dollar bills within.

Fine.

“Let’s sign these papers, then,” the mayor said amiably. He picked up the pen.

*********

Skyler felt so strange. She couldn’t remember who she was, where she was, or how she got there. Her thoughts were muddied, as if she was in a dream where she wasn’t completely in control. But she didn’t mind the loss of power. The strange compulsions guiding her made her feel calm and almost joyful.

She was straddling someone’s lap and kissing them. Her lover was not a good kisser, but that didn’t matter. Their warm body pressed against her excited her senses, aroused her, made her want more. Skyler smiled a little, enjoying her mouth against the others’.

The kiss rolled on. Despite her blurred thinking, Skyler found herself thinking about kissing someone else. A woman, a younger woman, perhaps still a teenager. This girl had brown eyes, short, brown hair, and a reed-thin, yet wonderfully feminine body. Skyler swooned just a little at the thought of this other girl. Who was she? How did Skyler know her? And why did she long for this other woman so much?

The kiss momentarily broke. “Take off your shirt,” a masculine voice ordered.

Skyler’s mind went completely blank. “Yes, master,” she heard herself say, and then her fingers were moving on their own, lifting up her top. She felt the cool air on her exposed skin.

Clumsy hands fumbled with her bra strap, and then Skyler felt that pulled off too.

“Ugggh, yeah,” the male mumbled, and then Skyler was pushed back slightly. The other lips appeared on her right nipple, eagerly sucking and stimulating it. She felt a rush of erotic pleasure.

But dimly, Skyler’s mind was beginning to wonder. _Who is doing this to me?_ she thought.

The young woman tilted her head, looking down.

Suddenly, in one jolted moment, Skyler saw the room. She was in the Hickory Valley holding cell, on the lap of… a man. He was sitting on the chair, she straddling his crotch. What’s more, she was **_completely topless_**, and the man was slurping away at her breast. His strong arms circled around her, preventing her from tumbling onto the floor.

_Oh my God!_ Skyler thought.

As a preteen, she’d once taken a boyfriend. Oscar Krilly, the redheaded boy who lived down the street. Oscar had made her laugh… but his body failed to excite Skyler in any way. Not that they hadn’t tried. After Oscar and then two other experimental romances, Skyler had realized: men did nothing for her libido. That’s just how she was made.

But women… ah, well, that was a different story. And particularly Kimberly Stamper. Oh, Kim…

** _Kim!!!_ **

In a flash, Skyler’s mind asserted herself.

In perfect clarity, she remembered everything that had happened to her. And, within that moment of epiphany, she saw the plans of Big Jim as clearly as she saw the room before her. Her heart thudded within her chest.

“Oh yeah,” Lester the hypnotist grunted, still making sloppy love to Skyler’s nipple. His shaggy hair danced before the young woman’s face.

Skyler wanted to shove the man, to throw him to the ground and scream bloody murder! For a second, she tensed, ready to strike.

But her quick mind, working at the speed of light, realized how precarious the situation was. If she tipped off Lester… he might be able to rehypnotize her again. Clearly, the guy was a master of the mind. Who knew what posthypnotics he might have given her?

And even if his hypnosis failed, then what? Skyler was literally in jail. There was no way she could overpower Lester and then escape. And even if she could, Big Jim’s cops would just rearrest her.

“Yeah, yeah…” moaned Lester. He grabbed Skyler’s head, forcing her lips to his. They kissed, with Skyler swallowing her revulsion and playing along.

“Oh Goddamn,” the hypnotist muttered, “I gotta have you. Stand up and take off all your clothes.”

“Yes master,” Skyler forced herself to say. She detached herself from Lester’s arms, rising to her feet. His greedy eyes never left her breasts.

“Master?” she said sweetly, bending forward and resting a hand on his shoulder.

“…huh?” Lester couldn’t hold back one big, dopey grin.

“**_SLEEP!_**” shouted Skyler, snapping her fingers once.

*********

“Very good, very good…” Ms. Bikulla remarked, her keen eyes scanning the last signed document. She handed it to Mr. Clarence, who signed himself, then pressed his seal onto the bottom corner. With great care, the accountant slid the paper back into the file folder.

Still behind his desk, Big Jim drummed his thick fingers impatiently. Was it his imagination, or was Ms. Bikulla milking the moment, lording her authority over him? He momentarily regretted signing.

“Everything is in order,” the real estate executive smiled. She took the file folder from Mr. Clarence, but left the briefcase on the desk. “Its been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Mayor.”

Big Jim stood, and shook her hand again. “And with you, ma’am.”

Ms. Bikulla nodded. Without a word, she swept from the office, Mr. Clarence in tow.

Hickory Valley’s mayor let out a long breath. Well. That was it. The Mall Deal was done, something else to brag about when it came time for reelection. In a strange way, the big man felt relieved.

He grabbed the briefcase and popped it open. The money was all there. Two hundred grand, in wrapped stacks of fifty Benjamins, made for forty stacks. The bills were crisp and new, smelling faintly of printing oil.

It was a shame, Big Jim mused, that this beautiful haul had to immediately go to Mad Dog Zeller.

But a deal was a deal. And there would be other deals in the future.

*********

When Big Jim finally made it back downstairs, he found Lester and Skyler entering City Hall Reception on the ground floor. Lester looked triumphant, while Skyler had a dazed expression on her face. Clara O’Bannon, the receptionist looked up from her magazine with great interest.

Skyler was wearing her trademark ugly black outfit, but her clothes and hair were slightly disheveled. And Lester’s tie was crooked. The mayor felt a flash of fury.

_That fucking hornball,_ Big Jim thought angrily. _He had to get into that poor girl’s pants, didn’t he?_

Oh well. There was nothing to be done now.

Burying his anger, Big Jim simply said, “Everything set?”

“Yep,” replied Lester. He gently patted Skyler on the shoulder. “Sky here and I had a long talk, and she agrees that she shouldn’t trespass no more.”

“Is that so?” Big Jim huffed. He was carrying Ms. Bikulla’s briefcase, and he now transferred it to his left hand.

“Yes,” agreed Skyler, her tone somewhat flat.

Lester prompted her, “In fact…?”

“In fact, I’ve been thinking,” Skyler said. “Maybe I should move out of Hickory Valley. Go back to Los Angeles. I’m not sure small-town life if for me.”

Big Jim studied the beautiful young woman’s blank face and then Lester’s shit-eating grin.

“That sounds very wise,” was all the mayor said. He extended a hand to Skyler, who took it and returned his handshake. “All the best to you.”

The black-clad woman smiled, then walked out of City Hall. She never once paused or looked back.

Clara the receptionist sighed and dove back into her magazine.

Now dropping his voice, Big Jim pushed the briefcase into Lester’s arms. “Here,” he growled. “Now get the fuck out of my town.”

*********

It was only three in the afternoon, but Big Jim decided to call it a day. Kimberly was still held up in one of the spare offices, right here on the ground floor. For reasons he couldn’t understand, the mayor wanted to collect his daughter and spirit her straight home.

The teenager was exactly where Big Jim had left her, sitting in a chair, and in a deep trance. It had been painful to watch Lester hypnotize her, but Kimberly had given Jim with no choice. Once she was under Lester’s spell, the two men had gone to work on her, scrubbing the memories of that filthy love affair from her mind, plus adding in some extra suggestions to make sure her relationship with her father would be smoother from here on out.

“Let’s let her sit here in deep hypnosis for a while,” Lester had suggested. “That’ll help the programming sink in. You can wake her when its time to go home.”

So now Big Jim leaned over his daughter, snapping his fingers. “Wake up, honey,” he said firmly.

Kimberly jerked in her chair, coming to life in an instant. She blinked, then looked about.

“Daddy…?” she said, confused.

Despite his concern, Big Jim smiled. _Daddy?_ Kimmy hadn’t called him ‘Daddy’ since kindergarten. The hypnotism had clearly worked.

“Hey there, baby,” the mayor soothed. “Its okay.” In a careful voice, he asked, “What do you remember?”

Kimberly blinked again, considering the question. “Uh…” she mumbled. “Well… I’m not sure. I was at home…” She stared up at her father. “Daddy, how’d I get here?”

“You, uh, came to see me at work, remember?” Big Jim said, feeding her the cover story. “You were up late, late last night, reading those big, thick history books that you like. And then you popped in here, just to take a quick nap. Remember?”

“Oh…” said Kimberly, thinking. “Oh. Oh, yeah. Right. I’d forgotten.”

“I told you you’ve been reading too much lately,” her father prompted. “Right?”

“Right,” nodded Kimberly. She stretched like a cat. “Daddy, I’ve been reading too much. I’m tired. Can we go home?”

“Of course, baby,” Big Jim beamed.

*********

Father and daughter strolled from City Hall, taking their time. The spring air was warm, and they could smell the fry grease from Ollie’s BBQ across the street. The sound of children playing tag in the park was in the air.

“Oh my goodness!” a woman exclaimed behind them. “Look, everyone, its Big Jim!”

The Hanson family, who had just purchased ice creams, hurried up. Big Jim found himself surrounded, and he broke out into his trademark _Aw-shucks_ grin. This was the part of being mayor that he loved.

“Big Jim, its good to see you,” Gus Hanson crowed, happy to shake the major’s hand.

“Gus, you old dog,” cracked Jim, clapping the man on the back. “You’re lookin’ well. How’s it been, since the surgery and all?”

“The doctors say he’ll make a full recovery,” beamed Lonnie Hanson, taking her husband by the arm. “We’re so happy.”

“That’s wonderful!” the mayor cried, shaking Gus’s hand again. “Godbless. We were praying for you at City Hall, you know.”

The Hansons’ faces glowed in appreciation.

“And how about you, young man?” Big Jim said, now training his attention on Jimmy Hanson, the family’s oldest son. Jimmy was just a year younger than Kimberly. “How’s life treating you?”

“Pretty good,” Jimmy admitted.

Jim cocked his head to one side. “Jimmy, you’ll be finishing school next year. You lookin’ for a job?”

The Hansons tensed. They were hoping Jimmy could find something nearby, in case his father’s health took a turn for the worst.

“You know,” the mayor said conversationally, “The Benjamin McCulloch Mall is gonna open about this time next year. They’ve got this new concept, its called an _Everything Drive-Through_. Something I suggested to them. They’ll need a full-time manager to run it, someone young with a lotta ambition.” He clapped a giant hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “I know the Mall people, son, I’d be happy to put in a good word for you.”

As one, the Hanson family lit up into joyous expressions. “Oh, Big Jim!” Lonnie exclaimed. “You’d do that?”

“Oh **_course_**,” the mayor said easily. “We here in Hickory Valley, we’re a big family, right? We always watch out for one another.”

*********


	5. The Silver Diner

Twenty minutes later, Big Jim pulled his red Bronco into his driveway, set it in Park, then turned off the ignition. “I’m starved,” he half-announced to Kimberly, sitting beside him.

“Yes, Daddy,” she tonelessly agreed.

“Mmm, I hope Althea is making ribs and mashed potatoes tonight,” Jim grunted, then piled out of the car.

He ambled into his house, already thinking ahead to tomorrow’s city business. There was a chance he could persuade Marriott to build their new hotel on the far side of Jasper’s Corner. Maybe if he called some old contacts, he could sniff out what sort of deal might tempt the Marriott people…? It was worth a shot.

The mayor didn’t notice that Kimberly had fallen behind. The teenager wore a small frown, as if she couldn’t shake an odd feeling. When her father disappeared, she hesitated.

After pausing for a moment, she then went into the garage.

Her old bike was in the back, shoved behind the boxes of Christmas lights. It was covered in cobwebs, but the tires still had air. Feeling oddly possessed, Kimberly wheeled it outside, cleaned it off, then hopped into the seat. Soon, she was pedaling back into town, enjoying the wind in her short hair.

*********

The Silver Diner was at the corner of Main and Washington, its old neon signs frantically blinking as always. Kimberly, not understanding why she was doing this, asked for a booth in the back. The middle-aged waitress seated her, adding a quick, “Say hi to your dad for me, okay?”

Like the diner itself, the menu hadn’t changed in decades. Everything was fried or boiled, and came with a side of coleslaw. Kimberly frowned, wondering why the hell she was sitting here. She should be at home, where-

Another person suddenly slid into the booth, right next to the teenager.

“Hey,” said Kimberly, alarmed.

The stranger was a young woman, just like herself. Well, maybe a year or two older. She was strikingly beautiful, but everything she wore was black. Her long, black hair shone like a raven’s wing, complimenting her black nail polish and dark lipstick. The woman looked at Kimberly with concern in her eyes.

“Hey,” Kimberly said again, this time with a little more force. “What the hell-“

With movement almost too fast to track with the eye, the black-clad woman put two fingers against Kimberly’ forehead. “**_Wintergreen,_**” she said, slowly and deliberately. And then she snapped her fingers.

A flood of memories stampeded into Kimberly’s mind. She remembered… **_Skyler!_** Beautiful Skyler, teasing her, weeks ago at the state fair! Stealing apples from Humphrey’s orchard with Skyler! Kissing Skyler, and feeing so free! Laughing as Skyler made the hypnotized Bruce Harlow dance like Michael Jackson!

And feeling absolutely terrified as the Hickory Valley cops seized Skyler, then tossed her into a squad car.

“Oh my God…!” Kimberly gasped. Before she could stop herself, she burst into tears and flung her arms around her lover’s neck.

“Okay, okay…!” Skyler chuckled, obviously relieved. “Its okay, let it out…” She held the teenager.

Kimberly gasped as a torrent of suppressed emotions smashed into her. She remembered that creepy guy, the plump one who had come into the room with her father. Creepy Guy had… **_done_** something to her. He’d shouted something and snapped his fingers, and suddenly Kimberly was in this weird dreamlike state, and she couldn’t resist anything the man told her to do or say or think. He’d…

“Oh God,” the teenager moaned. “Oh my God, Sky…”

“I know,” the older woman whispered. “Listen, you’re safe now. Can you get it together? People are gonna start staring.”

Kimberly nodded, quickly dried her tears, then sat apart. She gripped the table, amazed at the whirling thoughts in her head.

“Oh Jesus,” she murmured. “They… **_hypnotized_** us, didn’t they?”

“Yeah,” Skyler replied.

Kimberly pressed both hands against her forehead as she sat forward. “I can’t fucking believe it,” she exclaimed. “Its like you flicked a switch in my brain, and now I can remember **_everything_**.” She gestured in frustration. “That Lester guy… After I was under, I remember him bragging to my dad about how his hypnotism was super-advanced, and I would never be able to reject his power over me. Like, what he did to me would be in my head, controlling me, forever.”

“Yeah,” agreed Skyler. “He said the same thing after he got me, too.”

“So…” Kimberly’s expression tightened. “So, what happened? How did…”

The black-clad woman laughed softly. “Let me tell you something about human psychology, baby. Lester and his buddies **_think_** they’d developed this superhypnotism. But they’re assholes who stupidly believe they are megageniuses. But they haven’t developed shit.”

“Then how did…?” Kimberly said, confused. “I don’t get it.”

“You know the most important thing you need to be a powerful hypnotist?” asked Skyler, reaching for a menu. “Its not practice. Its not technique. You could read every hypnotism textbook ever written, and that’s only going to give you a little insight.”

“Okay…?” prodded the teenager.

“The real special ingredient is… **_confidence_**,” Skyler revealed. “Sheer, ballsy confidence. Nothing more.”

Kimberly made a _Say what?_ face.

“Its true,” insisted Skyler. “So true. If people think you look like an expert and you behave like you’re the shit and no-one else can do what you do, that **_alone_** convinces people that you have magical powers. I saw that when I watched the Vegas hypnotists. Those guys aren’t any more talented than I am, but they go out on stage like they’re fucking bulletproof and no-one doubts them. People get deeply hypnotized because those stage guys appear to be so godlike and impressive.”

“Huh,” Kimberly said, considering.

“That’s how Lester got me, at first,” remarked Skyler, still scanning the menu. “I had just been arrested, I was scared shitless for you, of course, and I was disoriented and off my game. In walks this Lester guy in a suit, who looks fucking gangbusters, just super confident, right? And when he pulls this unexpected hypno-trick on me, of course I dropped like a stone into deep trance. He probably did the same thing to you, too.”

Kimberly nodded. “Yeah.”

“Slimy bastard,” Skyler snorted. “How’s the chicken sandwich here?”

“Half grease,” replied Kimberly. She gazed out the window. “But Lester told my dad that the commands he gave me, that those commands would last forever…”

“I’m sure Lester believed that,” Skyler said, shaking her head. “That arrogant prick did one or two wildly successful hypnosis sessions early in his career, and now he mistakenly thinks he’s God’s gift to hypnotism. He’ll learn otherwise, sooner or later. What about the open turkey sandwich?”

“Half lard,” the teenager said.

“Really???” Skyler gagged.

“So… what did they do to **_you?_**” Kimberly said, turning to inspect her lover.

Looking chagrined, Skyler cast her eyes away. “I’ll tell you another time,” she murmured. “Not now. Let’s just say I turned the tables on our friend Lester, okay?”

“…’kay,” agreed Kimberly. Her eyes suddenly popped.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “I remember now! You came and you hypnotized me!”

Skyler looked worried. “I did, I’m sorry, baby,” she admitted. “It was the only way I could escape and then see you again. They erased me from your mind, **_remember?_**”

The teenager blinked, remembering…

*********

_Kimberly was sitting in the vacant City Hall office, deep in a trance. She was completely alone, but unable to move, unable to think, unable to awaken. As she remained there, Lester’s hypnotic commands from earlier in the day kept swimming through her mind:_

“…you no longer remember Skyler… …you believe you’ve spent the last several days doing nothing but reading historical biographies… …you love your father and you trust him completely… …you cannot resist these instructions…”

_Kimberly felt these words burrow deeper and deeper into her mind, becoming all-powerful. She was helpless in the face of such awesome magic._

_Dimly, the entranced teenager was aware of the office door opening. Two people entered the small room._

_“Oh my God,” a familiar female voice exclaimed, sounding aghast. “What did you _ **do** _ to her?”_

_“She’s deeply hypnotized,” responded Lester’s voice. He sounded calm, almost detached from the world._

_“Fuck me,” muttered the woman, then fell silent._

_Kimberly remained suspended in her trance, unable and unwilling to respond._

_“Okay,” the woman announced, “we’re gonna make a change to my plan. I want you to tell Kim that she’d accept my hypnotic commands, okay?”_

_“Yes,” Lester said woodenly._

_Kimberly felt a hand on her shoulder. When Lester spoke, his words projected them directly into her mind, irresistible and inviting: “And now, Kimberly, you will hear another hypnotist’s voice. You will follow and obey her instructions just as you have mine.”_

Fine_, thought Kimberly._

_Lester’s hand vanished, to be replaced by a smaller, gentler hand. “Okay Kimberly,” the woman’s voice said, “listen to me very carefully. Tonight, once you go home and your father is not paying attention, you will return to town. You will go to the Silver Diner and get a booth in the back. You will not understand why you do this.”_

Okay_, Kimberly thought automatically._

_“And then,” the woman continued, “when I touch your forehead and say the keyword ‘Wintergreen,’ suddenly all of Lester’s and my commands will completely vanish from your mind, forever. You will be exactly as you were, before any hypnotism. Do you understand?”_

_“Yes…” Kimberly’s mouth automatically replied._

_“Wonderful, baby,” the woman sighed, sounding both relieved and worried at the same time. “Now, drift even deeper, and consciously forget these instructions…”_

*********

“Oh my God,” Kimberly said, feeling sick.

“I know,” groaned Skyler. She was genuinely remorseful. “Baby, I’m so sorry to do that to you. I wanted to bust you out of there on the spot. But I couldn’t, not without tipping off your dad. Hypnotizing you to come to the diner was the only way I could save you.” She squeezed Kimberly’s hand under the table. “Please forgive me?”

“It’s a little weird,” Kimberly said honestly.

“I know, I know,” agreed her lover. “I’m sorry for that. So sorry. I had to think on my feet.” She paused, biting her lip. “Seriously… do you forgive me?”

Kimberly sighed. Skyler looked so stricken.

“Just never use hypnosis on me again,” the teenager said firmly.

“Of course, baby,” assured Skyler. Her shoulders sagged with relief.

Kimberly was surprised to feel herself smile. Skyler **_did_** love her.

The two women sat in silence for a moment.

“So… what happens now?” Kimberly had to ask.

She realized she dreaded the answer. After all, her father would be watching her extra carefully from here on out. Seeing Skyler could become dangerous.

Skyler didn’t reply. She picked up the menu before dropping it again in frustration.

“There’s nothing good to eat here,” complained the black-clad woman. “But they can’t possibly screw up a cheeseburger, right? You wanna split one?”

Kimberly shrugged. “Sure.”

Skyler, seeing the girl’s distress, took her hand again. “Hey,” she said softly, “we haven’t talked about what I came to discuss.”

“What?” Kimberly said, searching Skyler’s eyes.

Skyler smiled, then gazed out the window. “Look at that town,” she murmured. “I think your dad loves this town. And the people here love him. They **_loooOOOooove_** him. ‘_Everybody loves Big Jim,_’ I hear people say that all the time.”

Kimberly scowled. “Yep.”

“But here’s the thing,” Skyler said thoughtfully, “I think your dad loves Hickory Valley because he’s in charge. He controls it. He’s a big-hearted guy, but he only extends love to what he can control. It’s a trust issue thing.” She prodded Kimberly with her elbow. “You guys probably have a lot of dogs at home, don’cha?”

“Three Great Danes,” confirmed Kimberly.

“Yeah, figures,” Skyler said, shaking her head. “Your dad loves you, Kim, but he’s learning that he can’t control you. That’s a **_big problem_** for him. He can’t love you and let you live your own life as you see fit. He fears what your freedom might let you discover.”

The corners of Kimberly’s mouth turned down. Skyler’s words were hitting home. The teenager stared down into her lap.

“That’s why your dad naturally wanted a hypnotist to brainwash the both of us,” Skyler pressed. “It was a stupid scheme, bound to fail. And deep down, he must have known that. But he did it anyway.”

There was another pause.

“Am I wrong?” the black-clad woman asked very softly.

Yet another wrenching pause. Then Kimberly shook her head. She quickly wiped away a tear.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Skyler offered, gently touching the teenager’s arm.

“It sucks,” Kimberly said angrily. “**_He_** sucks. What kind of sick man would do that to his own kid?”

Skyler sighed heavily. “I don’t know, baby. And he’ll have to answer for what he’s done, I’m sure.”

The waitress appeared, eyeing Skyler with obvious distaste. “Are you ladies ready to order…?”

“Hi,” Skyler said brightly. “We’ll have a double cheeseburger, medium well, fries, and two Cokes? On separate plates?”

The waitress frowned, but left without a word.

“She’s cheerful,” scoffed Skyler.

Kimberly sighed. “So… what do I do?” she asked hopelessly.

“Ah,” Skyler exclaimed, her eyes shining. “I was hoping you’d ask. What if you could teach your father the most valuable lesson he’ll ever have in life?”

Disbelieving, the teenager stared at her lover. “Huh?”

“Here’s what we do,” Skyler said confidently. “You and I, we have a good dinner here. Then we hit the bathroom, walk down Washington St., and buy two tickets for the 8:14 PM Greyhound to St. Louis. Once there, we **_immediately_** buy two more tickets for New York City.” She tilted her head, pretending to make calculations in her head. “It’s a sixteen hour drive… so if we caught the 11:38 PM out of St. Louis… factor in an hour for stops… we’d be in New York by… uh, maybe 5:30 PM tomorrow? That’s kinda late in the day, but what the hell?”

“Stop kidding me,” Kimberly said.

“Oh, I’m so not kidding,” assured Skyler.

“Uh-huh, sure,” pouted Kimberly. “For real? We have no luggage. No-where to stay. Nothing to eat. And we have no idea where we’re going. What are you, like, twelve?”

“_Au contraire,_” countered Skyler, ignoring the dig. “We have nothing to worry about. Look…”

It was then that Kimberly realized; Skyler had brought a thin, unremarkable briefcase into the booth with her. After glancing about to ensure they weren’t being watched, Skyler set the case on the table and opened it, just slightly.

Kimberly sucked in a gasp. **_There was nothing but wrapped hundred dollar bills inside!_**

“Two hundred thousand dollars,” whispered Skyler, closing and stashing the case.

“How… how did you…?”

“Oh, I convinced Lester to give it to me,” Skyler cracked. “That boy is an excellent hypnotic subject, by the way. He’ll have some ‘splaining to do when his boss discovers that he doesn’t have this briefcase, but…” She shrugged. “Eh. Karma’s a bitch.”

“Two hundred thou…!” murmured Kimberly, staggered.

“Yes, baby, and I want to share it all with you,” Skyler implored. “We can go to New York, stay in the fancy hotel where they serve you tea with white gloves. And then? Philadelphia. Charlotte. New Orleans. Honolulu. The Grand Canyon.”

“The Alamo?” Kimberly squeaked, unable to restrain her excitement. “Valley Forge? Gettysburg?”

Skyler rolled her eyes, but said, “Sure, baby. If that’s where you want to go, we’ll go. I just want to see the US of A with you. That’s all I want.”

She patted the briefcase. “We’ll travel light, buy what we need, only pay in cash. We can spend all the time we want on the road. Whaddya say?”

Kimberly’s eyes were dancing. “But…” she said, thinking carefully, “…what about my dad?”

“This could be the best thing for him,” coaxed the other woman. “He needs to learn that you are an independent woman, out on our own, responsible for yourself. And while we’re traveling, you can write him letters or call him from payphones, to let him know you’re safe.”

Skyler smiled. “But if you make it clear that you’re not coming home until he respects you as your own adult… I think he’ll mature into the idea faster than he realizes.”

“It could be the best thing for him,” agreed Kimberly, unable to resist the smile spreading across her face.

*********

The two women ate like kings, giggling and planning their futures together. Then, between dinner and dessert, Kimberly wrote a simple one-page letter to her father, telling him the barest minimum of what he needed to know. After saying all she needed to say, she paused, then signed it:

** _With all my love,_ **

** _ -Kimberly_ **

Because she did love her father, even for his faults. Someday, she hoped their love would be on equal footing.

The young woman sealed the letter and left it with the diner staff. Big Jim would receive it when he swaggered in for his morning coffee, the next day. His daughter would be long gone by then, far beyond his grasp.

And then, Kimberly and Skyler hurried to the bus depot and bought their tickets. They left Hickory Valley together, off to discover America.

*********


End file.
